Chabad to Expand Facilities at Kansas University

LAWRENCE, KS — After starting with just a handful of students two years ago, the Chabad House at University of Kansas has found itself bursting at the seams with nearly 40 students coming for Shabbat dinner there each week. In response, they are expanding their facilities.

Currently located in one side of a duplex at 1203 W. 19th St. in Lawrence, Chabad House has acquired the other half, where Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel and his family have been living. The Tiechtels will move to another home, and Chabad House will expand to fill the whole duplex.

“We feel that the more space there is, the more people will come,” said Nechama Tiechtel, Rabbi Tiechtel’s wife.

To make the space more usable, the duplex will undergo construction, starting in November. Nechama Tiechtel said they expect the construction to take about three months, and the current space will remain available for students to use throughout the process.

Between buying the lot and implementing the construction, the project’s total cost now sits at $450,000. Through donations and a matching grant from the Rohr Family Foundation, they have already raised $300,000, which enabled them to buy the lot without taking out a mortgage. The design and construction of the new facility is being handled by Treanor Architects.

After construction, the building will contain a large social hall where student can gather for meals, classes and holiday celebrations, as well as more office space, a larger kitchen, a computer lab and a student lounge.

“We had to do high holidays on campus (this year). The goal is to create a place where there’s room for everything and right by campus where students can come by anytime to hang out,” Rabbi Tiechtel said.

The façade of the building will retain the home-like qualities of the current building.

“It was very important to us that it shouldn’t look like a regular building,” Nechama Tiechtel said.

Marc Kulick, a 20-year-old history major from Leawood, has been going to Chabad since it started at KU his freshman year.

“The first Shabbat was me and two other people and now there are 30 to 40 students that come weekly. (Rabbi Tiechtel has) done a great job of getting the name out,” Kulick said. “A lot of times, there have been a ton of people (at an event), and people have been outside and inside, and this will centralize it.”

Community member Leni Salkind said the extra room would be welcome, because there are so many students who come to Chabad’s activities. She said she was impressed with Rabbi Tiechtel’s efforts to encourage the expansion.

“I think most organizations would take a much longer time to get to the point where they can increase in size and have the funding in place to do that,” Salkind said. “It’s another venue in the community for Jewish student to get together and take part in Jewish activities and Jewish life. That’s a real plus for students at KU.”